


after every storm

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: first to fight [15]
Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Established Relationship, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21999583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Nona Ferry went into labor on a mild day in mid-May. By 1700 that evening, their little family had grown by two very small, very cute members.
Relationships: John "Abe" Abraham/Harper Li, John “Abe” Abraham & Trey Ferry, Maya Dobbins/Original Male Character(s), Rami Ahmadi/Nazil Ahmadi, Trey Ferry/Nona Ferry
Series: first to fight [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1471817
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	after every storm

**Author's Note:**

> After every storm, there is a rainbow. - Shannon Adler

Nona went into labor on a mild day in mid-May. Her water broke at exactly three-oh-seven that morning, sending her husband into a panicked frenzy. He’d gotten her and their many bags out the door and was in the process of starting the car when he realized he’d forgotten both his shoes and his keys. His wife called it “the perfect start to a chaotic day.” He simply called it idiotic.

It was at three-eleven that morning that Trey dialed Abe’s number. The other man’s phone began ringing on the bedside table, signaling an incoming call. The sound pulled both of the bed’s occupants from their slumber, but only one of them allowed it to interfere entirely with their rest.

“Mm,” Harper mumbled, removing herself from his embrace and rolling over to the other side of the bed. She reached for a pillow, using it to block out the sound. “Make it stop, please,” she pleaded drowsily, her words slightly muffled. “Someone who calls before eight is not someone I want to talk to.”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Abe muttered apologetically, ducking beneath her sound shield to press a quick kiss to her cheek before reaching over to grab his phone from the table. He squinted tiredly at the screen, then turned back to look over at her. “It’s Trey,” he reported simply.

Harper practically shot up from beneath the blankets, her pillow falling onto the floor next to them. “It’s Trey?” she repeated with wide eyes. “Well, answer it,” she urged when he nodded. “The babies are okay, right?” she asked before he could say a word to their friend. “And Nona?”

“I’m about to find out,” he told her patiently. “Hey, man,” he greeted the major. “Everything okay? Are Nona and the babies doing all right?”

“They’re doing great,” Trey assured him. “So great, in fact, that they’ve apparently chosen today as the day they’re going to make their grand entrance. Nona’s water broke five minutes ago. How quickly can you make it to Richmond?”

“Depends on how many traffic laws I break,” Abe replied honestly. “Shouldn’t take us any more than half an hour, though. She’s having them at Chippenham, right?”

“She is,” Trey confirmed. “Maternity’s on the second floor. Drive safe,” he added seriously.

“We will,” Abe promised. “Give Nona our best, and you – well, hang in there, Dad.”

“Thanks,” Trey returned dryly before ending the call.

“Okay,” Abe began, turning to face Harper once the conversation was over, “Nona’s in labor. Her water broke about five minutes ago. The hospital’s about half an hour away, so we should have plenty of time to get there before – and she’s no longer listening to me,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head fondly as she climbed quickly from the bed and began getting ready for the day as quickly as possible.

They left the apartment less than ten minutes later, dropping by the closest Starbucks for coffee and then heading directly for Chippenham Hospital in Richmond. It didn’t take long to locate the Maternity Ward, where Trey was already waiting for them at the entrance.

He smiled wryly at the sight of them, accepting Abe’s handshake and Harper’s quick embrace. “Nona told me to come show you where her room is,” he informed them, leading them down the hall. “I’m starting to think that was just an excuse to get me out of her space for a few minutes, though. Apparently, I’m being a bit overprotective.”

“A bit?” Harper murmured teasingly, smiling innocently when the major shot her an unimpressed look.

Abe exhaled laughingly in response to her words but didn’t otherwise react. “Have you gotten ahold of Maya and Donovan yet?”

Trey nodded. “They were loading Maddie up in the car and heading this way. I told them they didn’t have to come, but you know Maya. She always shows up for family, even if,” he shot them both a pointed look before continuing, “she should really be at home resting after working an eighty-hour week.”

“We’ll sleep as soon as they’re born,” Abe promised. “Which is about the time you’ll stop, right?”

“Don’t remind me,” Trey sighed, though his smile betrayed his true feelings. He knocked once on the closed door to Nona’s door, waiting her to invite them in before pushing it open.

“Hey, you two,” Nona greeted tiredly, smiling exhaustedly as her husband moved to adjust the pillows behind her. “Thanks for coming.”

“Nowhere else we’d rather be,” Abe replied honestly. “Hey, you tell those girls their Uncle Abe said to be nice to their mom, all right? Maybe they’ll listen to a third party more than the two of you.”

“One can only hope,” Nona agreed with a slight laugh.

“Okay, well,” Abe squeezed her shoulder gently, then moved aside so Harper could hug her, “we’ll leave you to it. We’re staying in the waiting room until they’re here, though, so you have him call us if either of you needs anything, okay?”

Nona nodded, her eyes drifting shut due to sheer exhaustion as the two Marines turned for the door. Abe patted Trey on the shoulder as he made his way past, murmuring good wishes before exiting the room and leaving the soon-to-be parents alone for the time being.

Maya and Donovan were in the waiting room when they arrived, Maddie sleeping peacefully against her mother’s shoulder. “Hey,” their friend greeted, her voice no louder than a whisper. “We were planning to drop in on them, but…” she nodded to her sleeping child in explanation.

“Pretty good excuse,” Abe remarked, claiming one of the chairs across from the family. “She’s conked out, huh?”

“She didn’t sleep much last night,” Maya explained quietly, running a hand over her daughter’s hair when the little girl began to stir. “Rhys didn’t get in until a couple hours ago, and she was worried, so – she was up a little later than she should’ve been.”

“Well, let me see if I can find her a blanket,” Harper offered, moving to get up from her seat.

Donovan waved her off. “She’s got one in her backpack. Maya was just scared moving her would wake her up, but honestly, if these babies are born and she doesn’t get to see them almost immediately, there’s probably a very good chance she’ll never speak to us again.”

“Seems reasonable,” Harper commented amusedly, reaching over to hand the little girl’s bag over to her father. She offered a smile in response to his murmured thanks. “Nona’s doing good. She’s settled in.”

“Hopefully labor won’t be too long,” Maya remarked quietly. “Took my mom seventeen hours with me. Think it was twice as long with my brother, if not longer.”

Harper shuddered at the very thought. “You know how some women refuse the pain meds? Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be doing that,” she told Abe. The man nodded in wholehearted agreement.

“Strap in, folks,” Maya advised softly. “We’re going to be here awhile.”

-o-

“Mama, can I play on your phone?” Maddie asked around hour thirteen. The little girl had been playing with Nadia Ahmadi since the girl’s parents had arrived several hours earlier, reading books and watching movies on Nazil’s iPad, but little Nadia had passed out in her father’s arms an hour earlier, and her friend had quickly grown bored.

“Sure, baby,” Maya murmured, reaching into her purse to retrieve the device and unlocking it for the girl. “Do you have all your games already, or do I need to download some for you?”

“I have them all,” the girl assured her mother, already bringing up her favorite game and beginning to play.

“They’ve been in there a while,” Harper remarked, glancing worriedly towards the closed door. “Do you think everything’s all right?”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Maya assured her. “Like I said, babies take their time, and Nona’s carrying two at the moment. They’ll make their appearance when they feel like it.”

“Candace took forty-six,” Abe remarked helpfully. “My grandparents kept me at the hospital the entire time. I was three; the cell phone wasn’t all that common just yet. Never been so bored in my _life_.”

“And I’m sure you remind your sister of that every chance you get,” Harper murmured, shaking her head fondly.

“Oh, absolutely,” Abe agreed. “She took longer than Liam and I did combined. It feels as though that makes up for the fact that she was always the faultless child while we were, well… we both instigated plenty of conflicts in our youth, let’s say.”

“Your poor mother,” Harper sighed amusedly. “She really should be put up for sainthood.”

“Nobody’s ever objected to that sentiment,” Abe agreed. “What I’m trying to say, though, is that Maya’s right.”

“Can you repeat that?” Maya cut in. “Preferably after Rhys has turned on his microphone?”

Abe ignored their friend. “Nona’s okay,” he assured her once more. “Don’t make yourself overwrought for no reason.”

“Okay, maybe I was overwrought for no reason, but now I’m that way because you just used the word overwrought unironically.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “We get it, honey; you memorized the SAT dictionary. No need to keep rubbing it in.”

“There’s Trey,” Maya said before Abe could respond to her remarks with anything other than a shake of his head and a slightly exasperated smirk.

The major came to stand before them, looking more exhilarated than they’d ever seen him. “Nona’s fine,” he told them first. “The babies – the girls – they took a little longer than the doctor thought they would to get here, but they’re doing well, too.”

Abe exhaled with obvious relief. “Glad to hear it.”

“They were born fifteen minutes apart,” Trey continued. “Asha was born first, then Gia.”

“Asha and Gia?” Maya repeated. “Those are their names?”

He nodded. “Asha Joan and Gia Danielle. And yes, Abe, I am aware we inadvertently ended up naming them both after you. We only meant to do it with Asha.”

“I don’t actually care,” Abe replied honestly. “I’m just going to take the win here.”

“You do that,” Trey muttered amusedly. “Nona wants you all to come meet them now, though. I’ll show you back.”

“Abe, Harper, you two go back first,” Maya suggested. “They did name both of their babies after you.”

“Inadvertently,” Trey reminded them for good measure. “But yes, we did,” he allowed a moment later. “And we’d both very much like you to meet them, so… I’ll show you the way.”

Nona was sitting up in bed when they arrived in the room, propped up by more pillows than Harper could count. There was a tiny bundle of pink in each arm, the only thing visible of the babies their striped caps. She smiled when they walked into the room, murmuring a quiet greeting as she attempted to soothe one of the girls. “Girls, this is your Uncle Abe and your Aunt Harper,” she informed the newborns. “You’ve had Uncle Abe wrapped around your little fingers for about nine months now. He never would confirm exactly how close he came to buying out every baby store in the area.”

“Extremely,” Harper supplied fondly, squeezing Abe’s hand. “He came extremely close.”

“Don’t sell me out the first time I meet them,” Abe protested, stepping closer to the bed. He smiled softly. “They’re beautiful, you guys.”

“They are,” Harper seconded, allowing Asha to grip her finger. “Welcome to the family, little girls,” she murmured, surprised to find herself blinking back tears.

“You’re lucky,” their mother murmured, leaning down to press a kiss to Gia’s forehead. “It’s a pretty great one.”

Harper sniffled, smiled, and silently agreed.

-o-

“They’re not going to hate me, are they?” she questioned concernedly, glancing up at Abe as they exited the hospital an hour later.

“No,” Abe scoffed humorously, shaking his head. “They won’t hate you. You really need to stop letting a few bad experiences with kids make you think they’ll all despise you, Harper.”

“It’s not a few bad experiences,” she admitted glumly. “I bent down to pick up a kid’s toy in the elevator the other day. I think he was more upset after I returned it than he’d been to start out.”

“You’ve got to stop letting them intimidate you,” he advised. “I told you, kids can smell fear. They’re like earthworms in that way.” He shrugged when she glanced over at him curiously. “You said bees can’t smell fear, so I Googled it. Earthworms can.”

“I appreciate your dedication to this simile, Captain,” Harper remarked dryly as they reached the SUV. She smiled her thanks when he opened her door for her.

“So,” Abe began, clearing his throat, “do you want kids?”

Harper practically froze in place the second he voiced the question. “I – I didn’t,” she admitted hesitantly. “For a really long time, I thought I was the worst possible choice for a mother.”

“And now?” Abe asked, obviously trying not to let too much hope slip into his voice.

“Now… well, now I think I could be an okay mother,” Harper replied. “Better than I would’ve been before, at least.”

“You’d be a great mom,” Abe told her confidently.

“Mm. Do you think they’d like me?” she questioned uncertainly. “Our kids?”

He turned to look at her, obviously surprised. “Harper,” he said, his voice as soft as she’d ever heard it, “you’d be their _mom_. They’d _love_ you.”

“Mm,” Harper allowed, unable to bite back a slight smile at the thought. “What about you? Do you want kids?”

“If they’re _your_ kids, absolutely,” he answered without even the slightest amount of hesitation. “I would very much want them.”

“You’re such a sap,” she informed him seriously, though the smile on her face was a bit too warm for the words to have much impact. “They would be very cute babies, though,” she added a moment later.

“They’d be perfect,” he concurred. “Absolutely perfect.”

Despite her outwardly exasperated smile, Harper couldn’t help but internally agree.

**Author's Note:**

> Babies born after a miscarriage are known as "rainbow babies." In this story, Nona fell pregnant around September, which would put her due date in late June. However, multiple pregnancies are typically shorter than single pregnancies. The twins were born five weeks early. 
> 
> The name Asha means "hope" in some languages and "wish" in others. Gia, which is a shortened form of the Italian female version of John, means "gift from God." Joan is a feminine form of John, and, since Nona's middle name was never actually stated, I've decided it's Danielle.


End file.
